


Holidays at Headquarters

by misfitcutie



Category: Extreme Ghostbusters (Cartoon)
Genre: Bittersweet, Chanukah, Christmas, I think this counts as fluff, i dont know, written by goyim
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-25 17:38:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17125793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misfitcutie/pseuds/misfitcutie
Summary: Set to be the first winter in the firehouse during XGB. Egon needs some festivities after all these years alone.ngl I haven't seen all of XGB so if they have a holiday episode I wouldn't know;;;;





	Holidays at Headquarters

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheMusicalCC](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMusicalCC/gifts).



“Did you ever want children?” A smirk was evident in Janine’s voice. She leaned back against Peter’s old desk. 

“Not particularly.” Egon sat in the desk chair; meticulously checking each bulb in a string of Christmas lights. “I’ve had a difficult enough time taking care of myself let alone an infant. But you know that.” 

“No kidding.” She crossed her arms. Instead of huffing and ruminating on the past occasions of reminding him to eat, sleep, and shower; she looked out to the garage bay. The kids lamented that the old firehouse needed to be decorated for the holidays and Janine commented that the old decorations should’ve been in storage. It hadn’t been an hour and they had pulled everything out and had the artificial tree up. She hadn’t even given them the key to the storage room. 

But that was a lecture for later. Now, Kylie and Eduardo were arguing about how the ornaments should be placed. She wanted them organized and he kept trying to assure her that he had taken multiple art and design courses. Roland was wrapping tinsel around the Ecto’s roof rack. And Garret had finished untangling a long strand of beaded garland. He rolled back and prepared to toss the garland like a beaded lasso at the top of the tree- or so Janine thought. He wound up looping Eduardo around the shoulders and jerked him back; bobbles rolling everywhere. (Thankfully the Ghostbusters has invested in shatterproof ornaments after learning Slimer liked to sit in the tree.) 

Janine turned away to laugh as Kylie and Garret exchanged a high five. She then placed a delicate hand on Egon’s shoulder. “What are we gonna do, Egon?” She sighed, content. 

He couldn’t help but briefly pause at the sound of his name rolling off her tongue. Her question was rhetorical, yet he contemplated it anyway. What were they going do? 

“Janine? We found this next to the Christmas decorations. We thought you might like to put it all out.” They both turned, startled at Kylie’s sudden presence behind them. She held out a cardboard box labelled “Chanukah” on the side. 

“Oh!” Janine took the box enthusiastically. “I forgot about this stuff. Thank you, dear.” 

“Here, Kylie. These seem to be in working order.” Egon rolled the strand of lights he was working on and handed it to her. “Are there any more?” 

“No. The other ones are working. Thanks, Dr. Spengler.” She trotted off back towards the tree. 

“I’ll have to decorate my desk again.” Janine slid the box onto the desk and popped it open. 

Egon watched her pull out the gaudy decorations. She recounted the memories stored in them, but he wasn’t listening. He’d become overwhelmed by the whirlwind of sparkle and shine around him. 

Janine paused. “Egon.” A downward inflexion. Something was wrong. She pulled out a neatly wrapped string of blue lights. 

“Oh, yes, let me check those.” He went to take them, but her grip tightened. 

“Egon, I packed these.” Her green eyes bored into him.” Have you gotten any of this out since...?” She trailed off.

“No.” He looked away. Sure, he lost track of time a lot. The seasons changed without meaning to him. But really, “There was no reason with you gone.” He fumbled with the pliers in front of him. 

He was never one to celebrate the holidays. He wasn’t devout. Growing up his parents weren’t very religious either. “Would you like to help me decorate?” Janine now offered the lights to him. 

“Of course.” Taking them, he smiled at her. Of course. He missed this. 

She smiled back; eye’s crinkling at the corners, marking the years apart. She pulled out a menorah wrapped in cloth. A sterling hand-me-down now tarnished from the long-term storage. She hummed in distaste and walked back to grab the lipstick from her purse. 

Apparently, Kylie and Eduardo had temporarily settled their differences and started hanging the ornaments; Eduardo taking the higher branches and Kylie taking the lower ones. Garrett had done a beautiful job stringing the garland and was now fiddling with the shop radio searching for Christmas music- though it was a little early. Roland had finished his decoration of the Ecto, inside and out. It wasn’t her thing, but Janine still appreciated their teamwork and dedication. They revitalised the old building without issue. 

She walked back to the desk Egon was working at; he was back to checking the lights. She grabbed a discarded rag, applied some of her lipstick to it, and worked at the dark stains. The menorah began to shine again. She showed off her work. “What do ya think? Why don’t we place it in the upstairs window, right above the sign? Where everyone can see it.” The rest of the blue and silver decorations weren’t necessary themselves. She used them to carve out her own space against the red and green. If other people were allowed to celebrate Christmas brightly and boldly the day after Thanksgiving, she could do the same with Chanuka. 

Egon looked at her handiwork, the overhead lights reflecting brightly in it. He didn’t care for the weather, the materialism, or the cheap décor; but now that he had company for the first time in years, he realised how much he missed spending time with people he cared about. The weight in his chest had shifted when Janine first walked into his classroom and had lightened considerably since she walked back into the firehouse. Sure, it wasn’t the same without Peter, Winston, and Ray- but it didn’t need to be. They had the kids- er, his students (if they could still be called that) and they had each other. He smiled at her. “That sounds perfect, Janine.”


End file.
